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Cevaucian Ascendancy
Species: Nahktar, Human Alternate Names: The Union, CAU, The Circuit, MetaCon Official Languages: French-Saxon, Treyal Official Currency: The Union standard credit (Ω) Total GDP: $60,000 Total Population: 225 Billion Overview Ironically, the Cevaucian Union was born out of an alliance of human crime rings in the lawless frontier of the perseus arm, a century before the ultimate formation of the Union. Warring clans found it simpler to put their tools towards a common purpose than to pursue mutually destructive practices. As polities began to coalesce on the fringes and the First Bragulan War saw the birth of the Solarian Sovereignty, mounting pressure from the increasingly organized core powers led to a gradual shift in Cevaucian policy, a ‘legitimization’ if you will. Instead of illegal and dangerous cybercomps, instead of stealthy and quick drug frigates, the Circuit began producing cheap and readily accessible civilian cyber-upgrades, as well as dependable and massive cargo freighters. Swift prosperity and expanding profits allowed the Conglomerate to soon spread from the home system of Cevaucia to two other systems. Rapidly capitalizing on the genuine lack of serious competition, the Conglomerate invested in the now famous Vanas Shipyards in the Diegon system. Nearly thirty years were spent constructing the ten-mile wide base, partially hewing the center out of an asteroid while constructing on site the shipyard’s famed spiral arms. It was the Union’s economic supremacy in the local sector that led it into a clash with the Ark, the powerful remnants of a shattered rimward imperium, operated by the fearsome reptilian Nahktar. Mineral exploration swiftly led to contact and conflict with the fiercely territorial Ark nomadic warfleets. Destructive fires of war atomized entire systems, with the war eventually tipping toward’s the Ark’s favor when a lightning strike captured the Diegon system and deprived the Union of its signature logistic advantage. The battle lines swiftly changed when rogue elements in both governments formed a pact to overthrow their respective regimes and form a dictatorial alliance. This rapid reversal of the playing field forced loyalist factions from both parties together for a climactic battle over the local Kaeleron Singularity. The rebel forces were eventually routed with the timely intervention of multiple fleets liberated from the relatively unguarded Vanas Shipyards by loyalist strike teams. Over the remnants of the swirling wreckage of the accretion disc, the loyalist factions of the Ark and the Union signed the Falvacion-Trego pact, bringing into existence the modern Cevaucian Ascendency. Integration, obviously, was a long and painful process between the two formerly opposed polities, with multiple language, social, and linguistic barriers to overcome. Fittingly, the new Ascendancy found common ground on the subject of shipcrafting, allowing the two races to reemerge into the galactic eye as respected source of civilian and commercial spacecraft known for their well-built value. Two decades later, the Ascendancy stands poised to reclaim its peaceful niche in the galactic economy, though not all is peaceful in the Circuit, as it is known to civilian spacers (for its well traveled FTL lanes). Multiple dissident factions, descendant of the original rebels, prowl through the intelligence echelons of the CAU’s Cadre for Tactical Intelligence (CTI), perpetually maneuvering events to engineer an eventual resurgence of the neo-fascist ideology. Long-lived Nahktar statebeings, wise with centuries of experience in the art of machinations, engage in a secretive cold war in the halls of power for dominance in Ascendancy politics. Chief among these guile operatives is Trego, Ark warmaster ascendant to Supreme Commander of A-Sec (the organized Cevaucian armed forces). Engaged in an uneasy pact with embattled CTI Director Leonardo Bateau – besieged by predatory rebels – and Forum Chairman Alton Nureno – a soft-spoken and ruthless power broker – Trego serves as with the trio as the face of the Cevaucian Ascendancy. Structure The Ascendancy maintains three councils of twelve (plus one chairman) for the various facets of Cevaucian government. The first commission – the Ring of Trade (RingTra) - provides oversight over the overall business affairs of the conglomerate, much like the board of directors. The overall control of intersystem economic relations rests with the board, as well as the massive CAU technological development apparatus. In order to maintain the galactic edge in cybernetics technology, CMC R&D is closely linked to CTI, the CAU’s crack intelligence network, taking the adage to heart that spycraft is not entirely about military affairs. The second council on the “High Circuit” stands as the Ring of Prosperity (RingPros), with its vested interest in the governance of all those beings who call the worlds under Cevaucian control home. Contrary to the popular image of the faceless super-corporation, the Ring of Prosperity stands as a guardian of civil rights and welfare. While those who are employed directly by the company would logical receive the very best benefits (being the highest tier of citizens), those ‘basic’ civilians who are not on CAU payrolls are still protected under the Cevaucian Domestic Charter. Since the Conglomerate obviously cannot produce every product and provide every service, an incredibly diverse field of smaller corps provide the consumer bedrock of the Cevaucian middle class (under the belief that, with so much minor competition, no one single group will gain too much power). Standing between the two Rings is the Adjudication (RingAdj), the CMC equivalent of internal affairs – essentially a tree of judicial courts. From the required civil courts to the supreme Arbitrat, the Adjudication mediates all disputes in the Conglomerate. Ascension through the any section of the ranks of the Conglomerate bureaucracy is strictly merit-based, a tradition of annual competence exams that ironically dates back to the days of the Triads, Crime Families, and Treyal Yakuza and who oversight now falls to the Adjudication (even it itself is not exempt from the analyses). Representation is vested in a massive Forum, with each planet or habitat afforded a pair of representatives. While long conflict has existed over the overrepresentation of smaller populaces and what indeed constitutes a habitat, the Forum has been relatively stable over its existence, forming an crisp, if formal relationship with the Ring of Prosperity. Chairman Alton Nureno, heir to the insanely powerful NurenTek clan and current Chairman of RingPros has presided over the most prosperous era in Cevaucian history, thanks in no small part to his ruthless coalition-forging and shark-like trawling for every single vote. Economy The “MetaCon,” as it is known verse-wide, is the nationalized conglomerate that supervises and operates the famed Vanas Shipyards of the Cevault system. Built upon well-crafted commercial shipping manufacturing, MetaCon constructs ships and virtually anything associated with them – civilian navigation suites, computer ‘virtual intelligences” that manage almost every other facet of starship operation. Life support, navshields, computer firewalls, communication transponders, sensor arrays, and maintenance drone management. The other major industry of the CAU is cybernetics crafting. While MetaCon shipbuilding is known for its value, the assorted firms of NeticTech and McDonnell Martin have gained a reputation oversector-wide for extremely high-end cybernetics. Operating on the very bleeding edge of the technological curve, ‘netics crafters often secure military contracts for special forces units or gengineered supersoldiers, as well as high-level brass and specialized extreme-environment agents. Culture CAU is, to say the least, extremely metropolitan at its core, where Union and Ark species have intermingled over the course of a century and cooperated in economic and political ventures. The fringe worlds – well, not so much. Since Ark and Union territory still roughly remains homogenous towards opposite ends of the Circuit, racial harmony is less well-founded and tensions still run high. Rogue warlords run along the predatory fringe of former Ark territory, either remnants of the organized rebellion, or hardline generals that refuse to accept peace with such a bitter former enemy. As a whole, however, CAU culture can be taken to run parallel to the galactic norm, even if it runs particularly liberal. MetaCon tends to encourage free thinking in order to foster innovation in the development process, a decades-old undercurrent that has grown to form a fierce, if subtle independent streak in the average CAU citizen. Nahktar culture, in regards to human, tends to be more group-and-family oriented, perhaps due to the strong nonverbal-nature of Nahktar communication. This has led to the development of Treyal as a trade language between humanity and the Nahktar, a rough lingua franca between French-Saxon and Trahk, the ancestral Nahktar tongue. Perhaps fittingly considering the Union’s origins in organized crime, the CAU is possessed of a large and well-developed criminal underbelly. The Nahktar-operated Zrmahk Syndicate is primary known as a protection racket on frontier Ark worlds – legitimately providing protection, mind, given the prevalence of pirates, raiders, rebels, and other malcontents. The co-species Transfer acts as the primary mover of illegitimate goods in the sector, from narcotics to weapons – but never sentient trafficking. Meanwhile, operating in splinters cells ubiquitously on every planet, the pro-human Sun Triad offshoot provides information brokering through the sheer nature of the Triad’s permeation through every low and mid-level CAU operation. Foreign Policy In regards to its policy of reconstruction, the Ascendency is extremely open in its economic arrangements, constantly seeking economic deals with nearby polities – as it views an economic alliance as a near-guarantee of allied peace. In relation to its ever-growing status, the Ascendency maintains a robust military, yet maintains an even more fearsome diplomatic corps, preferring the exhaustion of all nonviolent solutions before lighting up the main guns. Astrogeography RingCor The central core of Ascendency space revolves around the Cevault system, with the Vanas shipyards. Administration is found on Concordis, a positively massive O’Neill cylinder orbiting the shipyards. Not far way is the Regency sector, the old home sector of the Ark people. With political power shifting to the Cevault system, Regency finds itself still a cultural powerhouse, but is suffering overpopulation effects as cybernetics manufacturers move their business to the middle colonies. *Cevault (Home Sector):3 Sector Population: 75 Billion Sector Planets: New California (New Cal), the Vanas Megastructure (including Concordis, the capital), Falvacion, Cevault Sector GDP: $20,000 Stargate and H-Junction Present *Regency (Core Sector):8 Sector Population: 45 Billion Sector Planets: The Ark (megastructure in orbit around Zrmahk Gas Giant), Zrmahk II, Zrmahk IV, Zrmahk X, Varen Sector GDP: $14,000 Stargate Present +1 RingMid The middle colonies represent the breadbasket of the Ascendency. Cross-economic spread has been encouraged to avoid the human and Nahktar-dominated sectors from producing only what are required for their species, so as to overcome cultural barriers. Economic diversity is the name of RingMid’s game, providing home for the Circuit’s cybernetics industries, as well as lesser shipyards and the typical service-oriented MegaCorps that has operational centers in the Circuit. *Locklear (Human-Dominated Midrange Sector): 4 Sector Population: 30 Billion Sector Planets: Locklear X, Duox, Muddy Water, Far End, New Wales Sector GDP: $7,000 Stargate Present +1 *Adjutant (Nahktar-Dominated MidRange): 5 Sector Population: 30 Billion Sector Planets: Sahad, Il Samak, Scorpia, Prince’s End Sector GDP:$8,000 H-Junction Present + 2 RingFring The Far Fringe, as it is known, houses complete opposites: hard-bitten mining outposts, exploratory colonies, and rebel-held compounds. Both human-centric and nahk-centric interests combat each other daily, even above the prowling fleets that prey upon the unlucky shipper. The shadowy customer at the edge of a bar may be an undercover Meister, a rebel mercenary, or the Triad kingpin simply observing his charges. Comparisons to the old earth wild west are not entirely inaccurate, with the only law being a ship on shore leave or a CTI Corsair. Removed from the hustle of economy or the interaction of the galactic stage, the area provides the perfect haven for the remnants of the rebellion organized and covered by the Integral Tyrax. *Eriad (Mining-oriented Colony Sector): 1 Sector Population: 10 Billion Sector Planets: Farface, Black Sheep, Grunt, Fool’s Gold Sector GDP: $2,000 *Inner Fringe (Colony Sector): 1 Sector Population: 10 Billion Sector Planets: Jackson, Li, Keng, Neuquen Sector GDP: 2,000 *Omega (Rebel-held Colony Sector): 3 Sector Population: 25 Billion +1 Sector Planets: Rogue, Raith, Red Shoal, Butcher Sector GDP:$ 7,000 +1 Warp Gate Present + 1 Map 1. Eriad (Colony) 2. Inner Fringe (Colony) 3. Regency (Core) 4. Adjutant (Midrange) 5. Cevault (Core) 6. Locklear (Midrange) 7. Omega (Colony, contested) Transtellar Stargate Subnet The core territories of the Cevaukan Ascendancy and United Solarian Sovereignty are connected by an unusually dense network of mass-energy gates. This subnet of the greater warp gate network that connects all of Known Space is known locally as the Sovereign-Ascendant Transtellar Stargate Subnet, and consists of six stargates, two in the Sovereignty (at Solaris and Tannhaus) and four in the Ascendancy (at Cevault, Regency, Locklear and Omega). Primarily used for rapid mass transit of raw resources, people and industrial products, it also factors heavily in the strategic defensive thinking of the Ascendant and Sovereign warplanners, because it allows fleets and armies to redeploy across multiple sectors at extreme speed, granting a level of strategic mobility any potential invader will be very hard pressed to match. Category:National Information Category:Cevaucia